Revisiting the Volatility Tax

Revisiting the Volatility Tax

The Volatility Tax   Almost 2 years ago to the day, we published this piece: Reducing the Volatility Tax.  We thought revisiting this concept was timely given the last 18 months. Look at the table below and the returns of each segment of stocks during 2022, the...
Revisiting the Volatility Tax

A Process to Match the Game

Stroke Play or Match Play   For any non-golfers out there, match play is hole-by-hole scoring. Meaning, you play to win each hole individually. Your score from the prior hole is irrelevant to the next. In stroke play, it’s the cumulative total. Each hole...
Revisiting the Volatility Tax

Diversifiers vs. Hedges

I’m starting with this chart because it matters:    Source: TS Lombard as of March 2023   What you are looking at is the rolling 10-year correlation between stocks and bonds. Correlation is a measure of the relationship or connection between two things. In...
Revisiting the Volatility Tax

Decision Inputs

Decisions are easier to make if conviction of outcome is high, and/or the tradeoff profile is attractive enough. Even if (you think) you know the outcome of an event, if the tradeoff profile is poor then what? Let’s use a real-time example: Given that it’s the NCAA...
Revisiting the Volatility Tax

It’s the Tails That Worry Us

This month’s note is a carryover from last month’s, where we highlighted the rise of the “set it and forget it” portfolio over the last couple of decades, and the potential issues we see with that mentality. These portfolios are dependent on bonds working. By...